1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to situations where it is necessary to elevate the feet to reduce discomfort in the lower legs and feet of a person.
2. Status of Prior Art
There is a specialized field of medical science dealing with the use of mechanical devices that are designed to support feet and legs in the rehabilitation of injured or impaired joints and muscles. Scott, U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,487 discloses a leg elevator for use after surgical procedures. Pecheaux, U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,060 and Andrews, U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,796 disclosed leg and foot elevators for the postoperative period. These devices unlike that of Engleman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,486 are intended for specific applications and teach a leg elevator that is useful in all applications where the leg is immobilized. None of these devices are designed for general applications where a user simply desires to elevate the feet to minimize discomfort caused by edema or swelling of the feet and lower legs after hours of being ambulatory.
Jackson, U.S. Design Pat. No. 416,428 disclosed an ornamental design for an inflatable orthopedic pillar with aperture. Though not specifically designed for elevating the foot, Raftery, U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,967 disclosed a multiple position resilient support cushion that could be formed of a foam material or an air inflatable bladder. The apparatus of Raftery was designed to support the head and body of the user when in a lying, sitting and in an in-between resting position. LeVert et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,779 discloses a device for selectively elevating the feet to variable heights depending on the desire of the user. The height of the device is set by a user by controlling the air input to a plastic prismatoid.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved appliance that can be used to elevate and to vibrate the feet and lower legs so as to serve to reduce the edema and swelling of the lower body extremities (hereafter referred as LBE).
It is a further object of this invention to provide an inflatable prismatoid shaped feet and legs elevator with widthwise undulations.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a foot elevator with selectable vertical heights and horizontal lengths'
These and other objects will become apparent during the course of the detailed description of the apparatus of this invention.